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The Sarah Long Bridge is expected to remain closed for some time after a 473-foot ship broke free from the state pier, floated up the Piscataqua River and collided with the bridge on Monday.

Natalie Landry said she was driving in from Maine when the crash happened.

"A business owner ran up the hill to my car, he said, 'You might as well turn around, a boat just hit the bridge,'" Landry said.

Coast Guard officials said the Harbour Feature was carrying tallow oil and yellow grease when it broke free and hit the bridge about 1:30 p.m. Monday.

Director of Ports and Harbor Geno Marconi said the boat had arrived at the pier about noon and was going to be refueled before heading off to the next port.

"Something caused the vessel to get off of the dock a little bit, and with the strong tidal current, pressure on the lines and the lines started to break," Marconi said.

Marconi said the crew of the ship was on board and quickly dropped anchor, but the ship still managed to drift into the bridge.

New Hampshire Department of Transportation Commissioner Chris Clement said the bridge sustained heavy damage in the collision.

“The bridge sustained some pretty severe structural damage when the ship came up against it," he said.

He said the damage is on the New Hampshire side of the bridge, where vertical supports are bent and the concrete piers holding up the bridge are damaged.

“They're bent pretty bad, so in the morning we're going to get out there with our survey crews and we're going to take measurements to see how badly they're damaged, and then do some load calculations to see how much weight can be supported," Clement said.

Gov. Maggie Hassan said she planned to tour the bridge Tuesday morning to see the damage herself.

A dive team is expected to continue the inspection Tuesday.

The crew of the ship reported a 6- to 12-inch rupture above the waterline of the ship, near the port ballast tank. The ship did not take on water and did not leak any oil into the water, officials said.

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Nick Barrow said investigators will now work to inspect the hull of the ship to make a full assessment of the damage.

The bridge was closed to vehicular traffic, but marine traffic is allowed to continue crossing underneath the bridge. The collision left the river blocked off, but tugboats were able to begin moving the ship by 6 p.m. Monday.

Crews from the Coast Guard, Portsmouth Fire Department, Department of Transportation, New Hampshire Marine Patrol and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection all responded to the scene.

There was no word how long the bridge would remain closed to traffic.

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